Intelligent controller and method for electronic cigarette

ABSTRACT

An intelligent controller of electronic cigarette includes a switch module, a voltage acquisition module coupled to a heating wire, a control module coupled to the switch module and the voltage acquisition module, respectively, a display module electrically connected to an output of the control module, and a battery electrically connected to the switch module, the voltage acquisition module, the control module and the display module, respectively. The control module sends a control signal to the voltage acquisition module to make the voltage acquisition module acquire a terminal voltage of the heating wire. After receiving a signal from the switch module, whether the heating wire of an atomizer is in a short-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition or a normal condition is detected based on the acquired signal, and a detection result is output such that these conditions of the heating wire are observed directly by users.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/135,688, filed Sep. 19, 2018; which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/602,948, filed Jan. 22, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No.10,111,281, issued Oct. 23, 2018; which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2012/086607, filed Dec. 14, 2012;which claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201210455135.8, filedNov. 13, 2012; which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an electronic cigarette, andmore particularly, to an intelligent controller and a method of theelectronic cigarette.

BACKGROUND

An electronic cigarette includes a battery, a control circuit, and anatomizer. When a user inhales, a high speed airflow is formed in anairflow sensor which senses the inhaling from the user's mouth toactuate an airflow sensor switch to turn on the airflow sensor switch,and the electronic cigarette enters the working status. A control moduleof the control circuit can control an execution unit to operate bycalculating and measuring. The atomizer can be controlled by the controlmodule, and achieve different degrees of atomization according todegrees of suction from the mouth. The atomizer includes a highfrequency oscillation circuit and a heating wire. In the atomizer, anicotine liquid with high purity can be pressurized by a superfineatomizing pump, then enters into an atomizing chamber to be criticallyatomized into droplets with sizes of about 0.5-1.5 μm, to be dissipatedin forms of aerosols by mixing with the inhaled airflow, and form vaporsthat simulate a smoke gas and have an appearance similar to smoke, butis actually a fog. The condition for critical atomizing is that asurface tension of the liquid is reduced by heating to a degree that itis easiest for the liquid to be atomized, and a temperature of a normalsmoke gas (50-60 degree centigrade) is simulated while the smoke fog issimulated. At the same time, an indicator light at a front section ofthe electronic cigarette can be illuminated to simulate light of thecigarette tip to indicate that the electronic cigarette is in operation.When the inhaling is halted, the airflow in the sensor disappears, theairflow sensor switch is turned off, the control module of the controlcircuit stops working, the atomizer stops working, and the indicatorlight at the front section of the electronic cigarette is turned off.

When an electronic cigarette has been used for a period of time, theremay be failures if the nicotine liquid cannot be atomized into vapors.Because the user cannot visually observe where the trouble spot is, theuser cannot repair the defect by himself. Thus, the user has to abandonthe electronic cigarette or send the electronic cigarette to anafter-sale service station of the vendor for overhauling. Afterchecking, it may be determined that the heating wire is in circumstancesof short circuit or open circuit. Such minor failure causing theelectronic cigarette to malfunction will affect the user's degree oftrust in the electronic cigarette.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, an objective of the present invention is toprovide an intelligent controller of an electronic cigarette, by whichcertain conditions, including a normal condition, a short-circuitcondition, or an open-circuit condition, of a heating wire of anatomizer of the electronic cigarette can be directly observed by a user,

According to an embodiment, an intelligent controller of an electroniccigarette includes:

a switch module, configured to send a high voltage signal to activatethe intelligent controller;

a voltage acquisition module coupled to a heating wire of an atomizer,configured to acquire a terminal voltage of the heating wire;

a control module coupled to the switch module and the voltageacquisition module, respectively, configured to send a control signal tothe voltage acquisition module to drive the voltage acquisition moduleto acquire the terminal voltage of the heating wire, after receiving thehigh voltage signal from the switch module, detect whether the heatingwire is in a short-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition or anormal condition, according to a type of the acquired signal from thevoltage acquisition module, and output a detection result;

a display module electrically connected to an output of the controlmodule, configured to digitally display whether the heating wire is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition, or a normalcondition such that a user directly observes the condition of theheating wire; and

a battery electrically connected to the switch module, the voltageacquisition module, the control module, and the display module,respectively, configured to supply working voltage power to the switchmodule, the voltage acquisition module, the control module, and thedisplay module, respectively.

By adopting the above embodiment, when the control module receives thesignal from the switch module to activate the intelligent controller,the control module sends a control signal to drive the voltageacquisition module to acquire the terminal voltage of the heating wire;the voltage acquisition module sends the acquired signal to the controlmodule; the control module detects whether the heating wire is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition or a normalcondition, according to the type of the acquired signal from the voltageacquisition module, and outputs the detection result, and the displaymodule displays whether the heating wire is in a short-circuitcondition, an open-circuit condition, or a normal condition for a userto observe the current condition of the heating wire directly. If thereis a failure with the heating wire, the user can know the condition ofthe heating wire with the intelligent controller directly according tothe present invention, and a small failure, such as a short circuit oran open circuit of the heating wire, can be resolved by a simple repairby the user, avoiding the adverse effect of abandoning the electroniccigarette, and thereby ensuring the trust of users in the electroniccigarette. In addition, compared with the control circuit of prior artelectronic cigarettes, the intelligent controller with the above faultdetection according to the present invention has an advantage ofhigh-degree intelligence.

Preferably, the control module can be a control module storing abuilt-in electronic cigarette menu and storing parameters of theelectronic cigarette. According to an embodiment, the intelligentcontroller also includes:

an input module electrically connected to an input of the controlmodule, via which a user sends instructions to the control module toselect options in the electronic cigarette menu, and sends instructionsto the control module to adjust the parameters after viewing theparameters of the electronic cigarette, wherein the correspondingparameters are adjusted by the control module; and

a storage module coupled to an output of the control module, configuredto store data produced during smoking via the control module. Accordingto the present invention, after the intelligent controller is activatedby the switch module, the built-in electronic cigarette menu can beoutput, and the display module displays the electronic cigarette menu inthe control module for the user to visually observe the condition of theelectronic cigarette, after obtaining a control signal from the controlmodule. The user can select start options in the menu or view parametervalues in other options in the menu via the input module, or send asignal to the control module via the input module to adjust theparameter values. The control module can adjust corresponding parametervalues after receiving the signal for adjustment from the input module,and output the adjusted parameter values to the display module fordisplay.

According to the present invention, parameters can be set or adjustedvia the input module after the intelligent controller is activated, andsuch adjustable parameters include time, date, maximum number of whiffsof one day, cumulative number of whiffs, and so on. The above parameterscan be set or adjusted by a user according to his own need, so theintelligent controller according to the present invention has anadvantage of high-degree intelligence.

Preferably, the intelligent controller further includes a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) interface electrically connected to the control module,configured to use as an interface for data interaction between thecontrol module and an intelligence terminal device. The control modulecan communicate with the intelligence terminal device through the USBinterface coupled to the intelligence terminal device, to send the datastored in the storage module and produced during smoking to theintelligence terminal device. The intelligence terminal device can carryout a further analysis on the data, so the user can see the serviceconditions of the electronic cigarette more intuitively. The serviceconditions can include daily condition, weekly condition and monthlycondition. These service conditions can be displayed on the intelligenceterminal device in the form of graphs.

Preferably, the intelligent controller further includes a chargingmanagement module coupled to the USB interface, and electricallyconnected to the control module and the battery, respectively. When anexternal power is connected to the USB interface, the USB interface cantransmit the voltage of the external power to the charging managementmodule, and the battery can be recharged via the charging managementmodule. Therefore, in addition to an interface for communication, theintelligent controller according to the present invention also has aninterface for charging.

Preferably, the intelligent controller further includes a voltagecomparison module, configured to compare an acquired voltage of thebattery with a reference voltage to obtain a voltage difference, amplifythe voltage difference after comparing, and send the amplified voltagedifference to the control module. The voltage comparison module cancompare the voltage of the battery with the reference voltage of 1.8V,amplify the voltage difference after comparing, and send the amplifiedvoltage difference to an AD sampling interface, so that the controlmodule can obtain a precise voltage of the battery. The voltagecomparison module offsets the lack of precision of the AD samplinginterface of the control module. The voltage of the battery can beoutput to the display module via the control module, so that the usercan know the voltage of the battery accurately when the intelligentcontroller is at work.

Preferably, the display module includes:

a switching voltage booster coupled to the control module, configured toboost the voltage of the battery to output after acquiring the outputsignal of the control module; and

a display screen coupled to an output of the switching voltage booster,configured to display the condition of the heating wire output from thecontrol module after acquiring the output voltage of the switchingvoltage booster.

In the intelligent controller according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the display screen can be an OLED display screen,wherein the display screen requires a high voltage at work Thus,boosting the voltage of the battery via the switching voltage boostercan meet the voltage requirement of the display screen.

Preferably, the intelligent controller further includes a voltagestabilization module coupled to an output of the switching voltagebooster, configured to convert the voltage from the switching voltagebooster and provide a stable voltage to the control module. Because theintelligent controller according to the present invention has a highcurrent (greater than 1 A) at work, there is a great voltage drop in thebattery, and when the voltage of the battery is low, the voltage dropcan cause the voltage of the battery to be too low, making the controlmodule reset. The function of the voltage stabilization module is togenerate a steady voltage of 3.3V to power the control module, so as toavoid the problem of the reset of the control module when the heatingwire is at work. If there is no voltage stabilization module in theintelligent controller according to the present invention, the controlmodule can be reset when the battery operates at about 3.6V. Because ofthe voltage stabilization module, the intelligent controller will stillwork even if the voltage of the battery is decreased to 3.3V or below.

Preferably, the intelligent controller further includes an outputvoltage adjustment module coupled to the control module, configured toadjust a voltage output from the output voltage adjustment module to theheating wire of the electronic cigarette to a voltage defined by a user,according to a pulse width modulation signal output from the controlmodule based on a signal for adjusting the output voltage from the inputmodule. After startup of the intelligent controller according to thepresent invention, users can make the decision whether or not thevoltage should be adjusted, based on the voltage displayed on thedisplay module and their practical demands. The detailed process of theadjustment is that the input module is operated to send a user-definedvoltage signal, the control module calculates and sends a pulse widthmodulation signal to the output voltage adjustment module afterreceiving the user-defined voltage signal, and the voltage output fromthe output voltage adjustment module can be adjusted to the voltagedefined by the user. The intelligent controller according to the presentinvention can adjust the output voltage within a given voltage range,and it offers advantages that it can avoid a situation that thetemperature of the heating wire is not high enough to make the nicotineliquid be atomized completely, so as to get the best effect of smokingexperience; and it can avoid the burning out of the heating wire causedby the heating wire withstanding a large voltage or current.

Also described herein is an intelligent control method for electroniccigarette, including:

step S1, sending, by a switch module, a high voltage signal of startupto a control module;

step S2, receiving, by the control module, the high voltage signal ofstartup from the switch module, sending a control signal to a voltageacquisition module to make the voltage acquisition module acquire aterminal voltage of the heating wire, detecting whether the heating wireof an atomizer is in a short-circuit condition, an open-circuitcondition, or a normal condition, according to the type of the acquiredsignal from the voltage acquisition module, and outputting a detectionresult; and

step S3, digitally displaying, by a display module, an output signalfrom the control module to show whether the heating wire is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition, or a normalcondition for users to observe the current condition of the heating wiredirectly.

By adopting the above embodiments, when the control module receives asignal from the switch module to activate the intelligent controller,the control module sends a control signal to make the voltageacquisition module acquire the terminal voltage of the heating wire, thevoltage acquisition module sends the acquired signal to the controlmodule, the control module detects whether the heating wire is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition, or a normalcondition, according to the type of the acquired signal from the voltageacquisition module, and output the detection result; and the displaymodule displays whether the heating wire is in a short-circuitcondition, an open-circuit condition, or a normal condition for users toobserve the current condition of the heating wire directly. If there isa failure in the heating wire, users can know the condition of theheating wire via the intelligent controller directly according to thepresent invention, and a minor malfunction, such as a short circuit oran open circuit of the heating wire, can be resolved by a simple repairby the users, avoiding the adverse effect of abandoning the electroniccigarette, and thereby ensuring the trust of users in the electroniccigarette. In addition, compared with the control circuit of prior artelectronic cigarettes, the intelligent controller with the above faultdetection according to the present invention has an advantage ofhigh-degree intelligence.

Preferably, in the step S2, a built-in electronic cigarette menu in thecontrol module can be output to the display module, while the conditionof the heating wire of the atomizer that the heating wire is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition, or a normalcondition is output to the display module. Once the electronic cigarettemenu is displayed by the display module of step S3, the followingadditional steps can occur:

Step S4, selecting, via an input module, start options in the menu,viewing parameter values in other options in the menu, or sending asignal to the control module to adjust the parameter values, wherein thecontrol module can adjust the corresponding parameter values afterreceiving the signal for adjustment from the input module, and outputthe adjusted parameter values to the display module for display. Theoptions in the menu displayed can include: booting up; making the deviceenter a low-power standby state; reading the capacity of the battery;the time for the screensaver to show; the delay time for making thedevice enter a low-power standby state; checking and setting the time;checking the cumulative number of whiffs of the device, setting amaximum limit for the number of whiffs per day, and resetting thecurrent number of whiffs; and viewing information of the deviceincluding resistance of the heating wire, user information, and thedevice's serial number. If the user selects the option of booting up tomake the intelligent controller enter booting up mode, the intelligentcontroller can return to the menu interface to select from the rest ofthe options via a five-time-switching-on of the switch module of stepS1. If the user selects to boot up the intelligent controller, LOGO ofthe vendor, calendar, and main interface are displayed on the displaymodule in a sequence. The information presented on the main interfaceincludes current number of whiffs, remaining number of whiffs, theremaining capacity of the battery, output voltage, and indicating arrowfor adjustment of the voltage output.

Preferably, before the step of S1, it can further include:

step Q1, detecting, by the control module, whether a USB interface isconnected with a power supply unit with an output voltage, for example,of 5V, if the result of the detection is no, then proceeding to S1, andif the result of the detection is yes, proceeding to step Q2; and

step Q2, determining, by the control module, whether the power supplyunit connected with the USB interface is an intelligence terminaldevice, if the result of determination is no, then recharging thebattery, and if the result of determination is yes, establishing acommunication with the intelligence terminal device.

Preferably, the way to send a valid activating signal from the switchmodule by sending a high voltage signal is by switching on the switchmodule B times in A second(s), and the time for one switching on is lessthan C second(s). The way of switching on the switch module B times in Asecond(s) can help inhibit the wrong operations by users.

Preferably, the method can further include: acquiring, by a voltagecomparison module, the voltage of the battery, comparing the acquiredvoltage of the battery with a reference voltage in the voltagecomparison module to obtain a voltage difference, amplifying the voltagedifference after comparing, and sending the amplified voltage differenceto the control module; and converting, by the control module, theamplified voltage difference to get an actual value of the voltage ofthe battery, obtaining a remaining number of whiffs for the currentvoltage of the battery according to the actual value of the voltage andthe output voltage needed for one switching on the switching module, andoutputting the voltage of the battery and the remaining number of whiffsto the display module for users to observe the current voltage of thebattery and the remaining number of whiffs directly. In this way, ithelps users to have a good control over the using of the battery.

Preferably, in step S4, if the option of booting up in the menu isselected, the method further includes:

step S5, if the control module does not detect a high voltage signalfrom the switch module for one switching on in D second(s), the controlmodule controlling the intelligent controller to enter a standby state,and if the control module detects a high voltage signal from the switchmodule for one switching on in D second(s), then proceeding to S6; and

step S6, the control module controlling a voltage adjustment module tosupply power to a load so that the user can smoke the electroniccigarette.

After the booting up of the intelligent controller, there are twochoices when entering into the menu, one is for viewing or changingparameters, the other is to start up to enter a smoking operation. Whenentering the smoking operation, the switch module should be switched on,and the control module only needs to send a control signal to make thebattery supply power to the heating wire of the atomizer when receivinga high voltage signal from the switch module for one switching on.

Preferably, parameters of the electronic cigarette in the control moduleinclude the parameter of the maximum number of whiffs of one day, sobetween the step S51 and S6, it further includes a step S52 of detectingwhether the number of whiffs of the day reaches the maximum number ofwhiffs, if the detected result of S51 is yes, then the control modulecontrols the intelligent controller to enter a standby state, and if thedetected result of S51 is no, then proceeding to S6. If the number ofwhiffs of the day reaches the maximum number of whiffs of one day, theelectronic cigarette will no longer permit the user to smoke andautomatically enter the standby state, and the user can check theparameters of the electronic cigarette through operations, thus it helpsto ensure the user's health.

Preferably, after supplying power to the load of step S6, it furtherincludes:

step S7, detecting, by the control module, whether the switch module isswitched off, if the result of the detection is yes, the intelligentcontroller entering the standby state, and if the result of thedetection is no, proceeding to step S8;

step S8, detecting, by the control module, whether the switch module isswitched on for F second(s), if the result of the detection is no, theintelligent controller entering the standby state, and if the result ofthe detection is yes, proceeding to step S9; and

step S9, outputting, by the control module, a control signal to stopsupplying power to the load.

When the battery supplies power to the heating wire for extendedperiods, it is not beneficial for saving the capacity of the battery andit is unable to guarantee the life of the heating wire, so it isbeneficial to save the capacity of the battery and guarantee the life ofthe heating wire by controlling the maximum power supply time of thebattery by step S8.

Preferably, the method further includes a step S10 that in the standbystate, if the control module does not detect a high voltage signal fromthe switch module for any one switching on, the intelligent controllerenters a sleep state to wait to be woken up by a high voltage signalfrom the switch module to the control module. It is also beneficial tosave the capacity of the battery for the intelligent controller byentering the sleep state during the standby state.

Further described herein is an electronic cigarette, including anintelligent controller, the intelligent controller including a switchmodule, a voltage acquisition module, a control module, a display moduleand a battery; the switch module, configured to send a high voltagesignal to activate the intelligent controller; the voltage acquisitionmodule coupled to a heating wire, configured to acquire a terminalvoltage of the heating wire; the control module coupled to the switchmodule and the voltage acquisition module respectively, configured to,after receiving the high voltage signal from the switch module, send acontrol signal to the voltage acquisition module to make the voltageacquisition module acquire a terminal voltage of the heating wire,detect whether the heating wire of an atomizer is in a short-circuitcondition, an open-circuit condition, or a normal condition based on atype of the acquired signal from the voltage acquisition module, andoutput a detection result; the display module electrically connected toan output of the control module, configured to digitally display whetherthe heating wire is in a short-circuit condition, an open-circuitcondition or a normal condition, so that a user can observe currentcondition of the heating wire directly; and the battery electricallyconnected to the switch module, the voltage acquisition module, thecontrol module, and the display module, respectively, configured tosupply working voltages to the switch module, the voltage acquisitionmodule, the control module, and the display module, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram illustrating an intelligent controlleraccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a switch module in theintelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a voltage acquisitionmodule in the intelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a control module in theintelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a switching voltagebooster of the display module in the intelligent controller of FIG. 1according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram illustrating an input module in theintelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a storage module in theintelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a connection between theUSB interface and the charging management module in the intelligentcontroller of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a voltage comparisonmodule in the intelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a voltage stabilizationmodule in the intelligent controller of FIG. 1 according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a circuit block diagram illustrating an output voltageadjustment module in the intelligent controller of FIG. 1 according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic cigaretteaccording to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating an intelligent control method forelectronic cigarette according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-11, an intelligent controller according to anembodiment of the present invention includes a switch module 10, avoltage acquisition module 20, a control module 30, a display module 40,a battery (not shown), an input module 50, a storage module 60, a USBinterface 70, a charging management module 80, a voltage comparisonmodule 90, a voltage stabilization module 100 and an output voltageadjustment module 110. These parts are described in more details below.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the switch module 10 is electricallyconnected with the control module 30, and the control module 30 detectswhether the intelligent controller should be activated according to ahigh voltage signal from the switch module 10. The switch module 10 ispreferably a key-pressing switch K1. There are two modes of operation ofthe switch module 10 recognized by the control module 30. The first modeis that when the switch module 10 has been switched on five times in arow for a set period of time in a shutdown condition, the intelligentcontroller may be activated if the control module 30 detects thecontinuous high voltage signals from the switch module 10, and thecontrol module 30 outputs the menu to the display module. If the highvoltage signals produced by switching on the key-pressing switch are notcontinuous, or the number of the high voltage signals does not reach asetting value, the high voltage signals will be considered to beproduced by wrong operations and the intelligent controller cannot beactivated. The second mode is that the user selects the start option inthe menu after the intelligent controller is activated, and under thisoption, the intelligent controller is in a standby state ready forsmoking. When the user sends a high voltage signal to the control module30 by switching on the switch module 10 one time, the control module 30outputs a control signal to make the battery supply power to the heatingwire 120 after receiving the high voltage signal, and during theprocess, the control module 30 may record a start time for operating (aspecific point of time to start to switch on the switch module 10), anoperating time (the length of time for the switch module 10 beingswitched on), resistance of the heating wire 120 and so on. Because theintelligent controller outputs current to the heating wire 120 so thatthe heating wire 120 may be heated, this should be considered as onewhiff regardless of actually smoking of the electronic cigarette by theuser (the nicotine liquid may be introduced from the smoke cartridge tothe heating wire 120 by the negative pressure created by the smoking ofthe user, and the nicotine liquid may be atomized by the heat from theheating wire 120). That is, once there is a current flowing to theheating wire 120 the event may be considered as a smoking by the user,regardless if the nicotine liquid reaches the atomizer and is atomizedby the heating wire 120 of the atomizer. The above description shows twoimportant functions of the switch module 10. One is to activate theintelligent controller, and the other is to use as an actual operationof smoking in the state of power-on. In addition, the switch module 10also has a function of switching between the start options and the menu.For example, when the electronic cigarette is in the smoking mode, ifthe user switches on the switch module 10 five times in a set period oftime, the control module 30 will switch the current interface to themenu interface.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the voltage acquisition module 20 is coupledto a heating wire 120, configured to acquire a terminal voltage of theheating wire 120. The voltage acquisition module 20 comprises a firsttransistor Q3, a second transistor Q4, a first resistor R13 and a secondresistor R4. The base of the first transistor Q3 is coupled to thecontrol module 30, a voltage division and filter circuit is connectedbetween the first transistor Q3 and the control module 30, the voltagedivision and filter circuit comprises a capacitor C5, a resistor R21 anda resistor R23, one end of the resistor R23 is connected in parallelwith one end of the resistor R21 and then in series with the capacitorC5, the other end of the resistor R21 is connected to the base of thefirst transistor Q3, and the other end of the resistor R23 is connectedto the ground. The emitter of the first transistor Q3 is connected tothe ground, the collector of the first transistor Q3 is connected to thebase of the second transistor Q4, and the collector of the firsttransistor Q3 is coupled to the base of the second transistor Q4 via theresistor R12. The collector of the first transistor Q3 and the emitterof the second transistor Q4 are both connected to the battery. Thecollector of the second transistor Q4 is connected to one end of thefirst resistor R13, the other end of the first resistor R13 is connectedto one end of the second resistor R4, the other end of the secondresistor R4 is a coupling end for the heating wire 120 of the atomizerof the electronic cigarette. The heating wire 120 is connected betweenthe second resistor R4 and the ground, and both ends of the secondresistor are coupled to the control module 30, in order to send theacquired result to the control module 30. A voltage division and filtercircuit is connected to both ends of the second resistor R4, whichcomprises a resistor R30, a resistor R31, a resistor R33, a resistorR34, a capacitor C23 and a capacitor C24. The voltage acquisition module20 is operated as follows:

when the switch module 10 has been continuously switched on five timesin 1.5 seconds, the control module 30 will detect the condition of theheating wire 120 at first, and the detection includes: a control pin PC6of the control module 30 sends a control signal to turn on the firsttransistor Q3 and the second transistor Q4 in turn, and the current ofthe battery flows through the second transistor Q4 and flows through thefirst resistor R13 and the second resistor R4 in turn. If the heatingwire 120 is in a short-circuit condition, the voltage drop between bothends of the heating wire 120 is zero, the end of the second resistor R4connected to the heating wire 120 has a voltage of zero, and the controlmodule 30 can detect the heating wire 120 is in a short-circuitcondition after acquiring that the voltage of the end of the secondresistor R4 connected to the heating wire 120 is zero. If the heatingwire 120 is in an open-circuit condition, there is no current flowingthrough the circuit, both ends of the second resistor R4 have a samevoltage, and the control module 30 can detect that the heating wire 120is in an open-circuit condition after acquiring that both ends of thesecond resistor R4 have a same voltage. If the heating wire 120 is in anormal condition, there is a current flowing through the circuit, thevoltage drop between both ends of the heating wire 120 is nonzero, theend of the second resistor R4 connected to the heating wire 120 has anonzero voltage, and the control module 30 can calculate the resistancevalue of the heating wire 120.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the control module 30 may be a controldevice, such as a microcontroller or a digital signal processor (DSP).The control module 30 is configured to send a control signal to thevoltage acquisition module 20 to make the voltage acquisition module 20acquire a terminal voltage of the heating wire 120, after receiving thehigh voltage signal from the switch module 10, detect whether theheating wire 120 of an atomizer is in a short-circuit condition, anopen-circuit condition or a normal condition, according to the type ofthe acquired signal from the voltage acquisition module 20, and output adetection result. An electronic cigarette menu is built in the controlmodule 30, and parameters of electronic cigarette are stored in thecontrol module 30. The control module 30 digitally outputs theelectronic cigarette menu and the parameters after the intelligentcontroller is activated.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the display module 40 is electricallyconnected to an output of the control module 30. The display module 40is configured to digitally display whether the heating wire 120 is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition or a normal conditionfor users to observe the current condition of the heating wire 120directly. The display module 40 is also configured to digitally displaythe electronic cigarette menu and the parameters for users to observethe active state of the electronic cigarette. The display module 40includes a switching voltage booster U2 coupled to the control module30. The switching voltage booster U2 outputs a voltage after acquiring acontrol signal output from the control module 30. The switching voltagebooster U2 may be a TPS61040 chip. The display module 40 also includes adisplay screen (not shown) coupled to an output of the switching voltagebooster, configured to display the electronic cigarette menu and thevalues of the parameters of the electronic cigarette output from thecontrol module 30 after acquiring the output voltage of the switchingvoltage booster. In the embodiment, the display screen is an OLEDdisplay screen. The switching voltage booster U2 supplies necessarypower to the display screen, for example, via a 28 pins interface. Thedisplay screen provides visualized operations in man-machineinteraction, to improve operating convenience and bring higherintelligence.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 6 and 7, the input module 50 is electricallyconnected to an input of the control module 30. The user sends a signalto the control module 30 to select options in the electronic cigarettemenu via the input module 50, and sends instructions to the controlmodule 30 to adjust the parameters after viewing the parameters of theelectronic cigarette, wherein the corresponding parameters are adjustedby the control module 30. The storage module 60 is coupled to an outputof the control module 30. The control module 30 stores data producedduring smoking in the storage module 60. The input module includes aswitch S2. The first switch end and the second switch end of the switchare coupled to the control module 30, respectively. The switch S2 is asingle-pole double-throw switch, with an advantage that the switch canbe driven by a knob such that the single-pole double-throw switch can beswitched on to send a signal to the control module 30 when the knobrotates in any direction, which provides operating convenience forusers. With the combination of the input module and the control module30, the parameters in the control module 30, such as time, date andmaximum number of whiffs of one day, can be modified, which improvesman-machine interaction and brings higher intelligence to users. In theembodiment, the storage module 60 is a flash memory with a serialperipheral interface. The storage module 60 is an external memory of thecontrol module 30. During smoking, the control module 30 can obtain theparameters of the state of the smoking based on an internal real timeclock (RTC). The parameters of the current state, such as time forsmoking, length of smoking, resistance of the heating wire 120 andoutput voltage, are stored in the storage module 60. Every whiff (theswitch module 10 is switched on once in the state of power-on) willcause a piece of data containing the above information stored in thestorage module 60. The data can be provided to a PC via a correspondinginterface for analysis and the statistics. The data stored in thestorage module 60 also can be fetched to the display module 40 via theinput module for users to observe.

The battery (not shown) is electrically connected to the switch module10, the voltage acquisition module 20, the control module 30 and thedisplay module 40, respectively, and supplies working voltages to theswitch module 10, the voltage acquisition module 20, the control module30 and the display module 40, respectively. In addition, the batteryalso supplies working voltages to the charging management module 80, thevoltage comparison module 90, the voltage stabilization module 100 andthe output voltage adjustment module 110.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 8, the USB interface 70 (J4 in FIG. 8) iselectrically connected to the control module 30. The USB interface 70 isconfigured to use as an interface for data interaction between thecontrol module 30 and an intelligence terminal device. The USB interface70 is also coupled to a charging management module 80 which is alsocoupled to the control module 30 and the battery. The control module 30can communicate with the intelligence terminal device through the USBinterface 70 coupled to the intelligence terminal device, to send thedata stored in the storage module 60 and produced during smoking to theintelligence terminal device. The intelligence terminal device can carryout a further analysis on the data, so the user can see the serviceconditions of the electronic cigarette more intuitively. The serviceconditions include daily conditions, weekly conditions and monthlyconditions. These service conditions can be displayed on theintelligence terminal device in forms of graphs. When an external poweris connected to the USB interface 70, the USB interface 70 can transmitthe voltage of the external power to the charging management module 80(U6 in FIG. 8), and the battery can be recharged via the chargingmanagement module. In the embodiment, the charging management module 80can be a BQ24040 chip, the pin 1 of the chip is coupled to the output ofthe USB interface 70, the pin 10 of the chip is coupled to the battery,and the pin 8 of the chip is coupled to the control module 30.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 9, the voltage comparison module 9 is coupledto the control module 30. The voltage comparison module 9 compares anacquired voltage of the battery with a reference voltage to obtain avoltage difference, amplifies the voltage difference after comparing,and sends the amplified voltage difference to the control module 30. Thevoltage comparison module 9 comprises a MCP6001chip and a peripheralcircuit. The voltage comparison module 9 can compare the voltage of thebattery with the reference voltage of 1.8V, amplify the voltagedifference after comparing, and send the amplified voltage difference toan AD sampling interface, so that the control module 30 can obtain aprecise voltage of the battery. The voltage comparison module 9 offsetsthe lack of precision of the AD sampling interface of the control module30. The voltage of the battery can be output to the display module 40via the control module 30, so that users can know the voltage of thebattery accurately when the intelligent controller is at work.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 10, the voltage stabilization module 100 iscoupled to an output of the switching voltage booster U2. The voltagestabilization module 100 converts the voltage from the switching voltagebooster and provides a stable voltage to the control module 30. In theembodiment, the voltage stabilization module 100 is a XC620P332M chip.Because the intelligent controller according to the present inventionhas a high current (greater than 1 A) at work, there is a great voltagedrop in the battery, and when the voltage of the battery is low, thevoltage drop can cause the voltage of the battery too low, making thecontrol module 30 reset. The function of the voltage stabilizationmodule 100 is to generate a steady voltage of 3.3V to power the controlmodule 30, so as to avoid the problem of the reset of the control module30 when the heating wire 120 is at work. If there is no voltagestabilization module 100 in the intelligent controller according to thepresent invention, the control module 30 can be reset when the batteryoperates at about 3.6V. Because of the voltage stabilization module 100,the intelligent controller will still work even if the voltage of thebattery is decreased to 3.3V or below.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 11, the output voltage adjustment module 110 iscoupled to the control module 30, configured to adjust a voltage outputfrom the output voltage adjustment module 110 to the heating wire 120 ofthe electronic cigarette to a voltage defined by a user, according to apulse width modulation signal output from the control module 30 based ona signal for adjusting the output voltage from the input module. Theoutput voltage adjustment module 110 includes a switching buck-boostconverter U1, a switch pin of the switching buck-boost converter iscoupled to an output of the control module 30, and a reference voltagepin of the switching buck-boost converter is coupled to an output of thepulse width modulation signal of the control module 30. When the controlmodule 30 detects that the heating wire 120 is in a normal condition,the user can define the output voltage by the input module. Because thevoltage of the reference voltage pin 12 of the switching buck-boostconverter U1 is constant at 0.5V, and the output voltage of the pin 4 ofthe switching buck-boost converter U1 can be changed by a pulse widthmodulation signal to make the voltage of the pin 3 stabilize at 0.5V,the output voltage of the switching buck-boost converter U1 can bechanged by the pulse width modulation signal output from the controlmodule 30 according to the voltage signal input defined by the user.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 12, the electronic cigarette according to anembodiment of the present invention includes an atomizer, a smokecartridge and the above intelligent controller for electronic cigarette.The intelligent controller is coupled to the atomizer. The electroniccigarette works as follows: when the switch module 10 has been switchedon five times in a row for a set period of time in a shutdown mode, theintelligent controller may be activated if the control module 30 detectsthe continuous high voltage signals from the switch module 10, and thecontrol module 30 outputs the menu to the display module 40. The userselects the start option in the menu (other options can be selected toview, set or modify the parameters) after the intelligent controller isactivated, and under this option, the intelligent controller is in astandby state ready for smoking. When the user sends a high voltagesignal to the control module 30 by switching on the switch module 10 onetime, the control module 30 outputs a control signal to make the batterysupply power to the heating wire 120 after receiving the high voltagesignal, the nicotine liquid in the smoke cartridge is introduced to theatomizer by the negative pressure created by the smoking of the user,the nicotine liquid is atomized by the atomizer, and the smoke producedreaches the mouth of the user. During the process, the control module 30may record a start time for operating (a specific point of time to startto switch on the switch module 10), an operating time (a length of timefor the switch module 10 being switched on), resistance of the heatingwire 120 and so on, and the intelligent controller outputs current tothe heating wire 120 such that the heating wire 120 may be heated. Thespecial nature of the electronic cigarette according to the presentinvention is that this should be considered as one whiff regardless ofactually smoking of the electronic cigarette for the user (the nicotineliquid may be introduced from the smoke cartridge to the heating wire120 by the negative pressure created by the smoking of the user, and thenicotine liquid may be atomized by the heat from the heating wire 120).That is, once there is a current flowing to the heating wire 120, theevent may be considered as a smoking by the user, regardless if thenicotine liquid reaches the atomizer and is atomized by the heating wire120 of the atomizer.

Referring to FIG. 13, an intelligent control method of an electroniccigarette according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

step Q1, detecting, by the control module 30, whether the USB interface70 is connected with a power supply unit with an output voltage, forexample, of 5V, if the result of the detection is no, then proceeding toS1, and if the result of the detection is yes, proceeding to step Q2;and

step Q2, determining, by the control module 30, whether the power supplyunit connected with the USB interface 70 is an intelligence terminaldevice, if the result of the determination is no, then recharge thebattery, and if the result of the determination is yes, establish acommunication with the intelligence terminal device.

Step S1, sending, by a switch module 10, a high voltage signal ofstartup to a control module 30, wherein the way to send a validactivating signal from the switch module 10 by sending a high voltagesignal is by switching on the switch module 10 B times in A second(s),and the time for one switching on is less than C second(s). After thestep S1 is performed, perform the step S11.

Step S11, detecting, by the control module 30, whether the voltage ofthe battery is larger than N volt, if the result of the detection is no,enter a standby state, and if the result of the detection is yes,proceeding to S2. In this way, the electronic cigarette may only be usedwhen the capacity of the battery is larger than a certain value, whichhelps to ensure sufficient atomization during use and life of thebattery.

Step S2, receiving, by the control module 30, the high voltage signal ofstartup from the switch module 10, sending a control signal to a voltageacquisition module 20 to make the voltage acquisition module 20 acquirea terminal voltage of the heating wire 120, detecting whether theheating wire 120 of an atomizer is in a short-circuit condition, anopen-circuit condition or a normal condition, according to the type ofan acquired signal from the voltage acquisition module 20, andoutputting a detection result. In the step S2, a built-in electroniccigarette menu in the control module 30 can be output to the displaymodule 40, while the condition of the heating wire 120 of the atomizerthat the heating wire 120 is in a short-circuit condition, anopen-circuit condition or a normal condition is output to the displaymodule 40.

step S3, digitally displaying, by a display module 40, an output signalfrom the control module 30 to show whether the heating wire 120 is in ashort-circuit condition, an open-circuit condition or a normalcondition, and displaying by the display module 40 the electroniccigarette menu, in order to let the users observe the current conditionof the heating wire 120 directly.

Step S4, selecting, via an input module, start options in the menu,viewing parameter values in other options in the menu, or sending asignal to the control module 30 to adjust the parameter, wherein, thecontrol module 30 can adjust the corresponding parameter values afterreceiving the signal for adjustment from the input module, and outputthe adjusted parameter values to the display module 40 for display.

Step S5, if the control module 30 does not detect a high voltage signalfrom the switch module 10 for one switching on in D second(s), thecontrol module 30 controlling the intelligent controller to enter astandby state, and if the control module 30 detect a high voltage signalfrom the switch module 10 for one switching on in D second(s), thenproceeding to S51.

Step S51, detecting, by the control module 30, whether the capacity ofthe battery is larger than 0%, if the result of the detection is no,proceeding to perform a shutdown, and if the result of the detection isyes, proceeding to step S52.

Step S52, parameters of the electronic cigarette in the control module30 include the parameter of the maximum number of whiffs of one day, thecontrol module 30 detects whether the number of whiffs of the dayreaches the maximum number of whiffs, if the detected result of S52 isyes, then the control module 30 controls the intelligent controller toenter a standby state, and if the detected result of S51 is no, thenproceeding to S6.

Step S6, the control module 30 controlling a voltage adjustment moduleto supply power to a load such that the user can smoke the electroniccigarette. After supplying power to the load of step S6, perform thestep S11.

Step S7, detecting, by the control module 30, whether the switch module10 is switched off, if the result of the detection is yes, theintelligent controller enters the standby state, and if the result ofthe detection is no, proceeding to step S8.

Step S8, detecting, by the control module 30, whether the switch module10 is switched on for F second(s), if the result of the detection is no,the intelligent controller enters the standby state, and if the resultof the detection is yes, proceeding to step S9.

Step S9, outputting, by the control module 30, a control signal to stopsupplying power to the load and the intelligent controller enters astandby state.

Step S10, in the standby state, if the control module 30 does not detecta high voltage signal from the switch module 10 used for any switchingon, the intelligent controller enters a sleep state to wait to be wokenup by a high voltage signal from the switch module 10 to the controlmodule 30.

I claim:
 1. A controller, comprising: a switch that sends an activatingsignal to activate the controller; a voltage detector that acquires aterminal voltage of an external heating wire; a control device coupledto the switch and the voltage detector, respectively, configured toreceive the activating signal from the switch, determine whether acontinuous high voltage signal is sent from the switch, and send acontrol signal to the voltage detector to make the voltage detectoracquire the terminal voltage of the external heating wire based on thedetermination result, detect whether the external heating wire is in anormal or an abnormal condition based on a type of the acquired signalfrom the voltage detector, and output a detection result; a displayelectrically connected to an output of the control device, configured todisplay whether the external heating wire is in the normal or theabnormal condition, such that a user directly observes the condition ofthe external heating wire; and a battery electrically connected to theswitch, the voltage detector, the control device, and the display,respectively, that supplies working voltage power to the switch, thevoltage detector, the control device, and the display, respectively. 2.The controller of an electronic cigarette of claim 1, wherein thecontrol device is configured to store a built-in electronic cigarettemenu and store parameters of an electronic cigarette, the controllerfurther comprising: an input device electrically connected to an inputof the control device and configured to receive instructions to selectoptions from the electronic cigarette menu, sending instructions to thecontrol device after viewing the parameters of the electronic cigarette,such that the control device is configured to adjust the parameters; anda storage device coupled to an output of the control device andconfigured to store data produced by the controller.
 3. The controllerof an electronic cigarette of claim 2, further comprising a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) interface electrically connected to the control device,wherein the USB interface is configured to be an interface for datainteraction between the control device and an intelligence terminaldevice.
 4. The controller of an electronic cigarette of claim 3, furthercomprising a charging management device coupled to the USB interface,wherein the charging management device is electrically connected to thecontrol device and the battery, respectively.
 5. The controller of anelectronic cigarette of claim 1, further comprising a voltage comparisondevice, wherein the voltage comparison device compares an acquiredvoltage of the battery with a reference voltage to obtain a voltagedifference, amplifies the voltage difference after comparing, and sendsthe amplified voltage difference to the control device.
 6. Thecontroller of an electronic cigarette of claim 5, wherein the displaycomprises: a switching voltage booster coupled to the control device,and configured to boost the voltage of the battery to output afteracquiring an output signal of the control device; and a display screencoupled to an output end of the switching voltage booster, configured todisplay the condition of the external heating wire output from thecontrol device after acquiring the output voltage of the switchingvoltage booster.
 7. The controller of an electronic cigarette of claim6, further comprising a voltage stabilization device coupled to anoutput of the switching voltage booster, wherein the voltagestabilization device converts the voltage from the switching voltagebooster and provides a stable voltage to the control device.
 8. Thecontroller of an electronic cigarette of claim 7, further comprising anoutput voltage adjustment device coupled to the control device, whereinthe control device is configured to output a pulse width modulationsignal based on a signal from the input device for adjusting the outputvoltage of the output voltage adjustment device provided to the externalheating wire of the electronic cigarette to a voltage value defined bythe user.
 9. The controller of an electronic cigarette of claim 8,wherein the output voltage adjustment device comprises a switchingbuck-boost converter having a switch pin coupled to an output of thecontrol device and a reference voltage pin coupled to an output of thecontrol device outputting the pulse width modulation signal.
 10. Anelectronic cigarette, comprising: a controller, the controllercomprises: a switch that sends an activating signal to activate thecontroller; a voltage detector that acquires a terminal voltage of anexternal heating wire; a control device coupled to the switch and thevoltage detector, respectively, configured to receive the activatingsignal from the switch, determine whether a continuous high voltagesignal is sent from the switch, and send a control signal to the voltagedetector to make the voltage detector acquire the terminal voltage ofthe external heating wire based on the determination result, detectwhether the external heating wire is in a normal or an abnormalcondition based on a type of the acquired signal from the voltagedetector, and output a detection result; a display electricallyconnected to an output of the control device, configured to displaywhether the external heating wire is in the normal or the abnormalcondition, such that a user directly observes the condition of theexternal heating wire; and a battery electrically connected to theswitch, the voltage detector, the control device, and the display,respectively, that supplies working voltage power to the switch, thevoltage detector, the control device, and the display, respectively. 11.The electronic cigarette of claim 10, wherein the control device isconfigured to store a built-in electronic cigarette menu and storeparameters of an electronic cigarette, the controller furthercomprising: an input device electrically connected to an input of thecontrol device and configured to receive instructions to select optionsfrom the electronic cigarette menu, sending instructions to the controldevice after viewing the parameters of the electronic cigarette, suchthat the control device is configured to adjust the parameters; and astorage device coupled to an output of the control device and configuredto store data produced by the controller.